His Golden Girl
by EpicShiznit
Summary: After Voldemort's defeat, Harry and Ron decided to join the Ministry as Aurors. Unknown to each other, both Hermione and Draco return for their 7th year at Hogwarts, and what starts off as bitter beginning turned out to be the year that changes their lives forever. (Hermione x Draco / Hermione x Ron) Post-war


**His Golden Girl**

 **By** EpicShiznit

 **Chapter 1 – Bitter Beginnings**

 **Pairing:** Hermione / Draco

 **Multi-chapter**

 **Summary:** After Voldemort's defeat, Harry and Ron decided that join the Ministry as Aurors. Unknown to each other, both Hermione and Draco return for their 7th year at Hogwarts, and what starts off as bitter beginning turned out to be the year that changes their lives forever.

 **Warnings:** Rated M for Adult and Dark themes.

 **Disclaimer:** Characters, general plot, and settings belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement intended.

"Hermione, you don't have to return to Hogwarts. You should come with Harry and I and join the Aurors. There's still some work to be done", exclaimed Ron for the nth time over the summer after the battle at Hogwarts have been won. The Light had won over the Dark side but there were still some of Voldemort's most loyal followers that had gone hiding from the Ministry.

Ron and Hermione continued to argue just outside The Burrow where the sun was high up. Harry was on his broom, chasing Ginny on hers in preparation for her upcoming 7th year. Ginny was aiming to join the Hollyhead Harpies right after graduation, so she had to be up to par on all her Quidditch matches.

Hermione kept her back to Ron, crossing her arms above her chest, forehead furrowed, and eyes squinted with how bright the sun's rays were. "Not going to happen, Ronald. I've already told you all summer that I -have- to get my N.E.W.T.'s!" She was near exploding, and she found herself thinking how close she actually was to actually doing so whenever Ron was around.

"But Hermi-",

"Will you just stop it, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed in frustration, blurting it out as a demand, and not a question. She turned around and drew closer to him, Ron's eyes wide in utter shock. "I can't deal with this, with you always breathing down my neck, telling me what to do. I have my own life to live, okay?"

Ron took Hermione's hands in both of his, eyes searching through Hermione's pleadingly. "Think about it please. What will become of Harry and I without you? I'm sure we'll both be blubbering idiots with all those senior Aurors in the Ministry, well, more so me than Harry, but that's besides the point."

Hermione heaved a deep sigh. "I can't always be there for you and Harry, Ron. Let me just make my own plans for now and before you know it, I'll be joining you in the Ministry. I just -have- to finish school, no if's, and no but's. That's an absolute for me Ron, and you have to respect that."

Increasingly irritated, Ron's ears became bright red, the color tainted across his cheeks in anger. "Don't you…" He hesitated to continue, before sputtering out the words, "…don't you love me?"

Hermione groaned, rolling her eyes away from Ron, pulling her hand away from him. "Don't you dare pull that card on me, Ronald Weasley…" Her voice dangerously low, whispering through her gritted teeth, eyes brimming with tears as the cup of her frustration threatened to overflow. "You know I do and I always have, but you're not meeting me eye-to-eye here. What should I do to make you understand? Harry never nagged me about this. You do your thing, and I'll do mine. After a year passes, we'll see each other in the Ministry again. Is that so hard to understand?" With her last words, the first of Hermione's tears fell.

Bewildered and confused with how he should act towards his girlfriend, Ron stuttered, "I.. If you do love me, do this with me. You would do well with us in the Ministry now when there's still some Death Eaters left running around!"

"This is not going to work for us, Ron! By Merlin, I love you and I would not even have a moment's hesitation to take a hex or a curse for you, but you can't hold me down on what I want to do for myself. Let's just slow down with this you-and-I thing because I don't want to lose all respect for you, and especially not the friendship that I've built with you over the years. You can't just dictate my life out for me like that!" The rest of Hermione's tears followed, streaming down her heated cheeks. Ginny and Harry heard their argument and immediately flew back down to the couple. Ginny hurriedly held Hermione in her arms, glaring daggers at her older brother.

"Back off, Ron!", spat Ginny, and she pulled Hermione away, leading her back in their room inside The Burrow.

"Ron, you really did it this time", Harry said matter-of-factly, shaking his head at his friend before chasing after Hermione and Ginny. Ron, left defeated, kicked his frustration through the gravel outside their home.

"I think some ice cream from Florean Fortescue might cheer you up," Ginny offered as she and Hermione strolled along Diagon Alley to refresh their stocks of parchment and quills for the new school year ahead. Since the trio had spent the past few months looking after the Horcruxes, Hermione had to come in a year later for her seventh year at Hogwarts, set to graduate alongside Ginny and Luna. Her eyes were still swollen and red from crying the entire afternoon.

"Yeah, I think that would work, if only it was still open", declared Hermione as they stood right in front of the boarded up shop. After Florean Fortescue was abducted by the Death Eaters, they later found out that he was killed. "Butterbeer?", she offered Ginny, and the younger witch took Hermione's arm as they continued to walk down the street.

The entered The Leaky Cauldron and bought themselves a mug each, slapping a couple of sickles down on the table. Ginny found them a table closer to the corner of the pub and sat across each other.

"You have to forgive my idiot brother. He could be a git sometimes", Ginny said as she took her first sip of the sweet drink.

"Well, more so in the past weeks, as you noticed", Hermione supplied as she slumped against her seat. "He just doesn't get it. I thought he would at least try to understand that I'm doing this for myself."

Ginny offered a small smile as she set the mug back down. "I think he does, really, but he just wants to do things his way." She held the arm of the mug between her thumb and forefinger and moved it around idly. "So you're both taking time off each other now?"

Hermione turned her gaze from outside the window and back to Ginny. "Yeah, I think it's time we cooled things off before we get any deeper into what this relationship is." Her eyes dropped to her fumbling fingers and she sighed. "Don't get me wrong, Ginny. I love your brother, I really do, but this is also new to me… to us. It might need some getting used to and adjusting on both of our parts."

"Mostly his, I get it." Ginny nods and smiles warmly at Hermione. "I know where you're coming from. Sometimes things go so fast that you lose a handle on so many things. It would be for the best that you called things off for now. And trust me, I don't hate you one bit for it. My brother could be a bit intolerable at times."

Ginny and Hermione shared a laugh, effectively lightening the mood until they drank the last of their drinks. They stood to leave, unknowingly passing by Draco Malfoy sitting alone in one of the booths.

King's Cross was filled with students and their parents, but the usual exciting atmosphere at the start of every school year was noticeably muted. Ginny appealed to Harry to keep Ron away until her brother has come to his senses, so that she and Hermione could start their last year of Hogwarts without any hitch.

Ginny and Hermione had just entered Platform 9 3/4 and they worked their way through the crowd. Parents were bidding their children farewell, mostly asking them to be very careful and vigilant at all times. They were not wrong, in fact, until the last of the Death Eaters could be rounded up, they were not completely safe, but these parents knew that Hogwarts would be the safest place where they could entrust their children in.

Ginny noticed Draco receive and return an embrace from his mother, Narcissa. Draco went to board the train when she turned to Hermione, "Look who's back without his daddy." Hermione followed Ginny's line of sight and found Draco looking over his shoulder briefly and nodding. The two saw Lucius standing idly away from the crowds, the air of affluence still apparent, but with less arrogance. Ever since the Ministry had granted him pardon, the Malfoys had kept it low-key, avoiding the spotlight in the wizarding world.

"I didn't expect him to be back." Hermione stated flatly. "If I were him, Hogwarts would be the last place I'd want to be in."

Ginny shrugged, and the girls proceeded to pull their trunks up the steps and search for a vacant cabin, finding one near the end of the train.

"I'd agree with you, if not for the fact that Hogwarts will be the safest place for him right now, considering his father dropped names of Death Eaters that he had affiliations with. But who cares, right?", Ginny inquired while her brow raised along with a sly smirk.

Hermione looked at Ginny questioningly. "What? Yeah, who cares, and you have a point. Given the current climate, Lucius might have thought it would be best to keep his son sheltered from the outside world. They have a long way to go in convincing that they have denounced their old ways though."

"Right", Ginny finished as she shut the cabin door behind her once Hermione got inside.

A couple of hours into their trip to Hogwarts, the trolley witch began her rounds, offering sweets to each of the train cabins. She stopped at the one before Hermione and Ginny's, and they slid the door open to purchase some snacks. Right there, purchasing two pumpkin pasties and a chocolate frog was none other than, Draco Malfoy, his usually slicked back hair a little loose, with a few strands framing his forehead.

Hermione witnessed Draco slide the box of chocolate frog into his robe pocket and before turning away, found him looking at her and nodding lightly to acknowledge her, not a hint of arrogance in his rather somber demeanor. 'Maybe the war pulled him down from his pedestal', Hermione thought, failing to nod back at him before he returned inside his cabin.

Draco was alone in his cabin, slumping back against his seat and taking a bite of his pumpkin pasty. Hermione and Ginny returned to theirs, getting a quick nap in before they finally arrived at Hogwarts.

Just as the Hogwarts Express came to a screeching halt, the contents of Hermione's purse spilled out onto the floor. Muttering under her breath, she tried to make quick work of her belongings while the students piled out onto the platform.

"Come on, Hermione!", Ginny called out as she held the cabin door open for her friend. "We wouldn't want to be the last to ride the carriages."

Hermione headed out of the door and was just swinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder when the entire bag hit Draco square against his torso.

"Ow!", Draco exclaimed as the wind got knocked out of him, clutching at his abdomen.

"Oh damn, I'm so sorry!", Hermione apologized profusely, her eyes wide in shock and embarrassment. She was already anticipating the scathing remark from Draco, but it did not come. "So sorry." She looked at him apologetically as Ginny pulled her away by the arm.

Ginny drew her head closer to Hermione as they walked on the platform, whispering, "I don't think Malfoy packed his snarky retorts this year."

"Yeah, I thought for a while he was going to call me -that- name again." Hermione sighed in relief and they continued to walk towards the carriages.

For all the death that Ginny and Hermione witnessed in the past years, they knew it would be an uncomfortable ride. They both sat quietly across each other in the carriage, barely glancing at the thestral that was about to pull them away towards the school castle.

"Everyone make sure you're comfortable! We're about to leave as soon as Mr. Draco Malfoy joins us", Professor Flitwick exclaims as the young blonde pulled himself up on to the carriage, finding himself sitting right next to Hermione who sat unnervingly steady.

As though the night could not be any more chilly, the sight of thestrals added another layer of coldness around Hermione's head. She thought she might have been imagining it and it was not helping that she though Draco was still annoyed with her after the incident on the train.

Hermione's thighs pressed tightly together and her fingers fiddled nervously as the carriage finally started down the rough road ahead. Ginny was eyeing her suspiciously across from her, mouthing, "What are you doing?"

"I don't know!", Hermione whispered back to Ginny, glancing nervously to her right where Draco sat silently, his elbows resting against his knees, with fingers pressed tightly together.

'Right. Just as I thought', Ginny thought to herself as she rolled her eyes and looked away from Hermione, whose cheeks were obviously colored even under the pale moonlight.

"I'mreallysorryaboutwhathappenedearlier", Hermione muttered through the string of words lowly, almost unsure if she wanted for Draco to hear her apologies or not. As soon as Ginny heard the words, her head snapped back towards the bushy-haired girl, her eyes speaking volumes of incredulity.

Draco only ever glanced slightly towards Hermione, sweeping his gaze from the floor of the carriage to the jittery manner of Hermione's fingers as she twiddled with them. Hermione bit her lower lip slightly and slumped back in her seat. Perhaps she was forgiven, she thought to herself. Draco's silence was far better than him starting a row with her even before they could step on the castle grounds.

The carriage slowed to a halt as they reached the majestic gates of Hogwarts. Draco was quick to pick up his luggage and dragged it along with him. Hermione, still unable to believe herself and how she was acting, followed him along with Ginny.

They saw him walk past along another carriage in front of the one they rode, noticing how Draco would stiffen and look anywhere else aside from the side where the carriages were parked. He waited for his turn to be received by Professor Flitwick and Mr. Filch along with his baggage, and as soon as he was cleared, Draco pulled out the box of chocolate frog from inside his coat. He made it for the stairs, taking a bite of the chocolate as he went up each step.

Hermione suddenly pieced it together, how the usually notorious Slytherin Prince was suddenly silent, with no witty retorts to throw her way. She should have known too, the way it made her felt. She looked grimly at Ginny, sadly, almost sorry for the infamous Draco Malfoy.

"Thestrals", Hermione said matter-of-factly. "He can now see them too."

 **TBC**


End file.
